Pop-Surrealism, Play and Escapism

Pop-Surrealism, Play and Escapism

With the advent of the surrealist movement, how people viewed and experienced art underwent a drastic change. Two major shifts ocurred. The first being that art became a search of meaning. Rather than taking a realist and naturalist approach to art, artists deviated and began to explore inner worlds and new ideology that did not necessarily reflect an external reality but explored various fields of knowledge such as anthropology, politics, and science just to name a few. In short, Surrealism became a starting point for knowledge(McAra 1). The second change to take place was a refusal made by both Dadaism and Surrealism to work. What was meant by this negation was that artists were given carte-blanche. Freedom was given to the artist, a complete aesthetic independence over their own art. Although this freedom began as an autonomous and individual assertion of one’s aesthetic within the production of art, soon this freedom quickly implicated that artists were free to do as they liked ideologically as well(Grindon 79). These tenents have only been fostered and expanded upon in our current times and culture. When looking at the works of contemporary Pop-Surrealist artists such as Laurie Hogin, Amanda Sage, Madeline von Foerster, Carrie Ann Baade, and Julie Heffernan one cannot help but notice the affect these ideas have had on their work. In essence, the freedom afforded these artists have allowed for a level of escapism within art that is unprecidented. 

The exuberant canvases of Julie Heffernan depict worlds that are lush yet pestillence filled. The artist’s brightly colored palette is inviting to the eye trapping the viewer in the multi-layered narrative compositions. In her article, «Julie Heffernan’s Second Self» Tracy Hyder explains that although each of her paintings are entitled self-portraits, Julie Heffernan is not in fact creating self-portraits but is instead putting forth paintings of her second selfs.(Hyder 7) In her worlds, she explores realms that seems oniric and contradictory depicting an overflowing of flowers and vegatation as well as an infestation of sores, pests, and other problems. For instance, in her painting Self-Portrait as a Treehouse(img 1), there is a juxtaposition of imagery that seems to create a conundrum in the mind of the viewer. In the foreground of the painting, the observer sees many figures floating at the base of a treehouse. it is difficult to discern whether the swimmers are enjoying  the treehouse or if they are trying to somehow save it. By creating an image that does not depict a portrait and calling it so, Heffernan insinuates that her identity does not lie exlusively within her external identity but rather in the situations and environments she encounters. In a way, she is creating an artistic guise or other possible selfs who glean their identity from the environment and circumstances that surround them. 

Whereas Julie Heffernan plays within worlds of her own construction telling narratives of a second self, Carrie Ann Baade builds intimate paintings that are heavily image laden. Through the use of her painted collage, she is able to layer symbols upon symbols in order to construct meaning and identity.  When creating these collages, she borrows imagery from varied resources including but not limited to other paintings. One of the things that is signature of her work is her unabashed quotation of other paintings and mythologies. For example, in her painting entitled, The Temptation of the Penitent Medusa(img 2), the head of the subject is teeming with imagery and references to paintings and myths such as The Temptation of Saint Anthony and Medusa. By adding up layers of images, Baade investigates the liminal spaces of individual psyches.  Through her use of allusion, she also investigates an entire heritage of imagery and symbols that she has appropriated for her own use in composing her artwork. By doing so, Baade combines post-modern ideology with art historical symbols in order to create paintings in which their characters exisit separately from reality. 

Similarly to Baade and Heffernan, Madeline von Foerster creates surrealist work that breaks away from reality while still addressing real life problems. Starting in 2008, Foerster began making paintings of cabinets which she called Waldkrammer. Inspired by cabinets of curiosity which were popular during the Enlightenment era.(Nelson) These pieces of furniture would house items of intrigue and fascination. In her interview with , she explains that these paintings were inspired by trees and the species who inhabit them. A quintessential example of this is the painting entitled, Amazon Cabinet(img 3) that depicts a saint-like woman carved out of maghogany. Within the drawers of the woman, birds, insects and all manner of animal find rest. Later on in the interview, Foerster continues to explain how she hopes to combine the tradition of the cabinets of curiosity with reliquaires which she acknowledges as the medieval pre-cursor to the cabinets of curiosity.(Nelson) By combining these two traditions within her painting,  Foerster is figuratively carving out a new environment; a sanctuary for both the tree as well as her inhabitants. At once the sanctity and curiosities of the tree are brought to light through the combination of two European traditions; reliquaries and cabinets of curiosity. With a strong aesthetic that recalls the past mixed with ideological concerns about modern environmental issues, Madeline von Foerster creates an anthropomorphized version of reality.

In a similar vein to von Foerster’s work which examines the interconnectedness of animal species and trees within their environment, Amanda Sage’s work journeys into the sacred where she tries to depict the unity and harmony among all things. Sage’s painting entitled, Orphic Awakening(img 4) shows a woman whose breath seems to spiral and lace together as it travels down and around the face of the subject. Multiple and interconnected lines of color intertwine together to show a metaphysical space that would oridinarily be unseeable. In a society built on materialistic and capitalistic ideals, Sage’s work is a window into a new visionary world that deals with changing human consciousness and  visions of a better future. In an interview by Seth Walker, Sage states concerning her own art, «I’ve always very much admired sacred art and I would like to see more work translated into themes and symbols that comunicate to a multi-generational and multi-cultural audience.»(Walker). Hers is an art that is a reaction against the accepted view that ours is a vulgar, materialistic existence, embracing a more spiritual viewpoint that examines how the human experience relates to the sacred. 

In her paintings of dioramas, Laurie Hogin employs classical painting techniques to create art that is reminescent of pastoral paintings. In her painting entitled, Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters(img 5) the viewer is presented with a scene of various animals whose appearance straddles reality and irreality. The animals from her pictures are brightly colored with neon fur patterns. In addition, her animals seem to possess anthropomorphic characteristics which further blurs the line between animal and human. By painting brightly colored animals and placing them within a scene where they are all forced to interact with one another, these creatures soon take on an allegorical meaning for society and its different members.. When asked what her intentions in painting were, the artist responded, «I’m interested in how we represent ourselfs and what we want, and how it drives our treatment of one another and our behavior.»(Stanley). In creating these whimsical diaramas, Hogin is able to make an environment and community that is all too familiar, seem exotic. In doing so, she is allowing for some distance to be created between the viewer and reality allowing him a refreshed and rejuvenated perspective. 

Each of the aforementioned artists not only has a unique visual aesthetic but also use their style in such a way that communicates their individual views and ideologies concerning a myriad of themes and topics. The whacky landscapes, realms, and portraits of Julie Heffernan purpose alternate possible selfs and explore invented narratives all while using a visual language that transports the viewer into a world that recalls the landscapes of old Dutch paintings. In Carrie Ann Baade’s world, imagery is layered upon itself in a collage to create complex images that sometimes allude to old masters’ paintings. The combination of her collage techniques with her painting allow for an experience that bridges the contemporary and the classical to create an environment that seems ageless and disconnected from reality. Meanwhile, Madeline von Foerster’s paintings entice their audience by making the exotic not only feel familiar but also intimate through her combination of the traditions of cabinets of curiosities and reliquaries. Through this composite of styles, she makes the seemingly common and disposable into something sacred and worth preserving. Amanda Sage utilizes her art for similar means. Her’s is a work that seeks to change the perspective of her viewers and transform the way they interact within their environments and among themselves. Finally, Laurie Hogin employs painting in order to create her brightly colored dioramas of animals, By painting these pastoral scenes, she makes the familiar exotic. Each of these artists not only possess a fun and distinctive style that they acquired through the amalgamation of different art techniques, each utilizes their style in such a way that best expresses their artistic voice through the construction of irrealities that not only allow us to escape reality but also examine it as it is manifested through the lens of another.  

Images

image 1

Self-Portrait as Treehouse

Julie Heffernan

2011

oil on canvas

64’‘x60’’

image 2

The Temptation of the Penitent Medusa

Carrie Ann Baade

2010

oil on panel

12’‘x18’’

image 3

Madeline von Foerster

2008

egg tempera and oil on panel

30’‘x60’’

image 4

Orphic Awakening

Amanda Sage

2012

oil, casein and acrylic on canvas

12’‘x18’’

image 5

Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

Laurie Hogin

2008

oil on canvas

60’‘x84’’

Bibliography

Grindon, G.. "Surrealism, Dada, and the Refusal of Work: Autonomy, Activism, and Social Participation in the Radical Avant-Garde." Oxford Art Journal 34.1 (2011): 79-96. Print.

Mcara, Catriona. "Surrealism as Epistemology." Art History 34.1 (2011): 214-218. Print.

Hyder, Tracy S.. "OATD: Hyder, Tracy S. - Julie Heffernan's "Second Self"." OATD: Hyder, Tracy S. - Julie Heffernan's "Second Self". N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Aug. 2014. <http://oatd.org/oatd/record?record=oai%5C:etd.tcu.edu%5C:etd-05122006-152224>.

Nelson, Joe Heaps. "Madeline von Foerster." Madeline von Foerster. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Aug. 2014. <http://www.madelinevonfoerster.com/press-interview.html>.

Walker, Seth M.. "“Carrying the Torch into the New World”: Amanda Sage and the Visionary Art Movement - Nomos Journal." Nomos Journal. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Aug. 2014. <http://nomosjournal.org/2013/08/carrying-the-torch-into-the-new-world/>.

Stanley, Caroline. "Exclusive: Laurie Hogin and the Allegorical Possibilities of Brightly-Colored Monkeys." Flavorwire. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Aug. 2014. <http://flavorwire.com/6986/exclusive-laurie-hogin-and-the-allegorical-possibilities-of-brightly-colored-monkeys>.